Jobless Rate Jumps In Three County Local Area

July 17, 2010

While the statewide unemployment rates in Florida and Alabama dropped, the three-county employment rate in the North Escambia area increased according to date released Friday.

Escambia County’s unemployment rate increased 0.6 percent— up from 10.3 percent in May to 10.9 percent in June. That represents 879 jobs lost in a month.

Santa Rosa County also recorded an increase in unemployment — from 9.3 in May to 9.8 percent in June. Santa Rosa County lost 378 jobs during the period.

The unemployment rate in Escambia County, Ala., also jumped, from 11.4 percent in May to 11.8 in June.

Florida’s May unemployment rate dipped to 11.4 percent,  the third consecutive month of improvement. Prior to this year, the last time Florida recorded monthly declines in unemployment rates was February 2006.

“This continuing decline in Florida’s unemployment rate is another strong indication that our economy is improving,” said Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo. “While we recognize that families and businesses, especially those impacted by the Gulf oil spill, continue to face challenges as the nation emerges from recession, this positive indicator should provide hope to Floridians.

The improvement is partially attributed to a shrinking labor force. According to the department, the labor force shrank by 34,000 from May to June, likely due to many people giving up on their job searches. However, jobs were still lost during the month, with the biggest loss coming in laid off census workers. As census taking wrapped up, 20,000 workers were laid off.

“If we didn’t have that census impact we would have likely gained jobs,” said Rebecca Rust, chief economist for the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Unexpected was the relatively stable rate in Panhandle counties. State officials have heard for weeks about the economic hit suffered there because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill – and lawmakers are talking about a possible special session later this year to deal with economic issues arising out of the disaster. But the Pensacola metro area had a 10.5 percent unemployment rate in June, with the Panama City metro area coming in at 9.3 percent and the Destin-Fort Walton area coming in at 7.6 percent, the lowest for the state.

Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 10.3 percent in June, declined from May’s rate of 10.7 percent and equaled the year-ago rate.

The News Service Florida contributed to this report.

Comments

One Response to “Jobless Rate Jumps In Three County Local Area”

  1. Dee on July 17th, 2010 12:36 am

    Yeahh..i just got laid off Tuesday :(

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News